Spiritual Warfare in the Book of Psalms – 146

Scripture:

Ps. 68:11-12 (ESV)
11 The Lord gives the word; the women who announce the news are a great host:
12 “The kings of the armies–they flee, they flee!” The women at home divide the spoil …

Comment:

God is raising up a great army of women, preaching something new.

God’s word talks about a great host of women coming with good tidings. The word ‘host’ can also be translated ‘a mass of persons organized for war’, an army. Here it’s spoken it speaks of a great army of women.

It is interesting to see that the Word of God talks about women who will preach. The original Hebrew word that has been translated ‘announce’ in ESV and ‘proclaim’ in NKJV, means ‘make known’, ‘preach’ and ‘tell’.

Ps. 68:11 is a prophetic message that there will come a time when a great army of women will preach something new. We don’t need to wonder about the new message the great army of women will preach. To know we only have to read verse 13, which says “The kings of the armies … flee”.

Who are the fleeing kings of the armies? They are the powers and principalities of the evil spiritual world, the leaders of Satan’s army.

”… The women at home divide the spoil …”

When the evil spiritual world draws back, it means blessings for everybody, not just for those who were actively taking part in the battle. There will be positive changes in winning people for God, and the daily routines at home will change, because they will be done in freedom.

Demonology – 70

70. THE JEZEBEL SPIRIT (part 25)

How does the Jezebel spirit use bad relations to attack the church?

A member of the church might be attacked by the thought-dart “That member is so bothersome that I don’t want to meet him/her”. Of course, it is not just in churches we meet such problems. They can exist wherever people meet. But, here we are discussing the possibility for the Jezebel spirit to attack the local church.

It is obvious that if there is a lot of antagonism in a church it will weaken it. Jesus warned about the consequences of division.

Mark. 3:24-25
24 And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

The church is a family, where we all are brothers and sisters. That is true for the universal as well as the local church. The Jezebel spirit wants to hurt the church, and one way is to create internal divisions.

How can the Jezebel spirit create bad relations?

There is no member, in any church, who is perfect. We all have our faults and shortcomings. The evil spiritual world is trying to use these weaknesses, and make them more noticeable. For instance a member who because of inner wounds wants to control in order to feel safe might get ‘help’ from the Jezebel spirit.
At the same time the evil spirits, including the Jezebel spirit itself, can tempt other members to detest the member that is acting in a wrong way. That can lead to an open confrontation, but it can just as well mean that members keep away and choose to stay at home.

How can the Jezebel spirit further use a bad relation?

It is not unusual to seek for confirmation from other members if one thinks that somebody is behaving wrongly. The Jezebel spirit will gladly ‘help’ to inspire to gossip and even taking sides. Private talks between members can become channels for the Jezebel spirit to attack the church.

Do we have to agree in being stepped upon in order not to contribute to bad relations?

How should we act when a member is behaving badly? Must we take everything in order to keep the order? Of course not. But we gain nothing by hitting back. That would just serve the interest of the Jezebel spirit, since it would create even more animosity. We need, in a friendly way, refuse to bend down under the Jezebel spirit acting through a member, and it takes the help from the Holy Spirit to do that in the right way.

Spiritual Warfare in the Book of Psalms – 145

Scripture:

Ps. 66:3 (NIV)
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you.

Comment:

The evil spirits cringe before the power of God – when it’s released.

The evil spirits know that they are totally defenseless against the power of the Holy Spirit. They also know that God has chosen to release His power through us, the believers, and therefore they try to stop us from doing that.

The only chance for the evil spirits to be free to act is to prevent the believers from gaining knowledge, and to frighten those who do understand what it’s all about.

We need to get hold of the truth about the evil spirits as well as about our authority:
- The truth about the evil spirits is, when they try to seem dangerous and undefeatable, they are actually defenseless when they meet the power of the Holy Spirit.
- The truth about us, the believers, is that we are highly dangerous for the evil spirits. We are dangerous for them because the Holy Spirit dwells in us.

1 John 4:4
… because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world

Do we want the evil spirits to back off from our lives, from our families, from our churches, from the place where we live and from our nation? There can be no change until we release the power of the Holy Spirit against the evil spirits. If we allow ourselves to be frightened, and compromise with a defeated enemy who is cringing before the power of God, we will have to take the consequences of that. But we will not compromise, will we?

It all begins when we speak to God and accept the power of God. Say to Him, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you”.

The next step is to speak commands against the evil spirits, and that way we release the power of God.

Ps. 8:2
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

Demonology – 69

69. THE JEZEBEL SPIRIT (part 24)

We have seen that the Jezebel spirit wants to damage the church, and it does it by attacking a member’s mind with thought-darts.

How does the Jezebel spirit use the thought-dart “nobody understands me”?

If the Jezebel spirit succeeds in making me think that nobody in the church understands me, it contributes to walls between me and the others. It is like a sneaking separation that eventually makes me receive the thought-dart that we mentioned in the previous part, namely “Why should I go to the meetings?”

Why is the thought-dart “nobody understands me” so useful?

We all need to feel loved and respected. It is God that can fill these needs, but we can be tempted to try to get them filled by men instead. However, it is so easy to become disappointed with men, especially if we have big expectations. In our disappointment, it is easy to feel as if nobody understands us.

Are there other reasons for receiving the thought-dart “nobody understands me”?

We can have an idea about what God has called us to do, and expect to serve God from that calling. It is good to have an expectation and a will to serve God. But, if we demand that others in the church accept our “gift”, and make demands of being allowed to act from that gift whenever we want to, there will certainly be problems. We can begin to feel as we are held back, and then the thought “nobody understands me” comes.

What should I do if I feel like “nobody understands me”?

We can always rest in the assurance that Jesus, the Head of the church, will lead his servants into the fullness of what he has for them.

Ps. 138:8
The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me…
(Swedish version: The LORD will finish his work for me …)

We never need to force our way to get into our ministry. We will be led by the Holy Spirit. Our calling will make a way for us. But it may take more time than we expected, and it might even be in a different way than we expected.

Finally – We don’t belong to a church in order to be understood by people, but because God wants us to belong to a church, and we don’t attend meetings in order to get confirmation from people, but in order to meet Jesus.

Spiritual Warfare in the Book of Psalms – 144

Scripture:

Ps. 66:3 (NIV)
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you.

Comment:

So great is God’s power that His enemies cringe before Him.

When you read in the gospels about Jesus, dealing with evil spirits, you see how defenseless they were against Him. In the same way the evil spirits have no chance against the church, the body of Christ. But they are only defenseless if, the church, believes in its authority, and uses it.

It’s time to stop cringing before the enemies, and instead make them cringe before us! In order for that to happen we need to speak what is right before God. Instead of speaking in unbelief, of how impossible things are, we need to speak about how awesome His deeds are. Speaking failure is actually to speak judgment over ourselves. God’s power is always there. What it’s all about is whether we have released it or not through our words.

Spiritual Warfare in the Book of Psalms – 143

Scripture:

Ps. 63:2 (NKJV)
So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.

Comment:
We need to place ourselves in position, in order for the power of God to flow through us.

In our meetings we often seek the glory of God, and that is good. But do we also seek His power? Do we expect His power to manifest through us?

What does it take to see God’s power in our meetings?

To begin with, we need to know that God really has power. As long as we regard God as a passive viewer, whose only purpose is to judge our failures, we will not expect to see His power. God is good, and He is powerful! He wants to save, heal, deliver and restore everybody with His power.

Why do we so seldom see the manifestation of God’s power?

Because He has chosen to channel His power, here on earth, through His children, and He has given them a free will. As long as we don’t place ourselves in position for His power to flow through us, we will not see His power. But if we believe in His power, and let it flow from our inner man in words and actions, we will see the result of it. And people will come to our meetings, for they too, want to see God’s power and glory manifest.

Demonology – 68

68. THE JEZEBEL SPIRIT (part 23)

How does the Jezebel spirit use members of the church to attack it?

Let’s first distinguish between direct attacks on the mind of a member and attacks via a member who is a Jezebel-person.

How does the Jezebel spirit attack a member’s mind?

The Jezebel spirit can attack a member’s mind in many ways. For instance it can use the following thought darts:

• Why should I go to a meeting?
• Nobody understands me
• That certain member is so bothersome, I just cannot meet him
• No one shall decide for me, what to do or what not to do
• I have been so hurt and I don’t want to experience that again
• Since I feel so bad when I go to a meeting there must be something wrong with the church
• I have a ministry but no one recognizes it
• We are called to be witnesses, but our pastor just teaches and prays for the sick

Above we have listed just some of the thought darts that can hit a member. Let’s have a closer look at each one of them.

Why does the Jezebel spirit use the thought dart “Why should I go to a meeting?”?

The Jezebel spirit is trying to make the members stay at home, isolating them from the fellowship. The member thinks that he/she could just as well read the Word of God and pray by him-/herself. But the truth is that God desires that all his children belong to a local church and attend its meetings.

Hebr 10:25
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is …

Why does the Jezebel spirit want members to keep away from the church?

There are many explanations why the Jezebel spirit wants to keep people away from the church. Here are some:

• Unity among the believers is important. We contribute to unity by attending the meetings.
• It is easier for the enemy to deceive a believer who isolates him-/herself.
• The Bible says that one conquers a thousand whilst two conquer ten thousand. In other words we become more effective when we are together.
• God is using the church members to change each other, like iron sharpens iron.

Spiritual Warfare in the Book of Psalms – 142

Scripture:

Ps. 60:12
Through God we shall do valiantly …

(Swedish version: “With God we can do mighty things …”)

Comment:

We need to think bigger.

It is so easy to limit what God can do through us, when we look at ourselves, instead of seeing who God is in us. When we think about our own ability and our circumstances, we will not even get close to what God is able to do through us.

Some one might say: “But what if I become haughty or proud, and start dealing with what is too big for me?” Yes, there is such a ditch, but just because there is a ditch on the other side of the road, doesn’t mean we should stay in stay in ‘the ditch of impossibility’.

There is a certain demonically inspirited way of thinking in the world. In Scandinavia we even regard the phenomena as a ‘law’, the Jante law. Examples of such thoughts, becoming strongholds, are, “So, you think you are better than us?” or “Du you think you are smarter than us?” or “Who do you think you are, trying to perform super natural acts?”. Those strongholds need to be torn down. They are dwelling places for demons. The purpose behind those thoughts is to limit you, especially regarding what God wants to do through you.

The Word of God gives us the truth:

Eph. 3:20
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

It’s not about our ability, but God’s ability through us. He is able to do EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY above ALL that we ask or think. When we understand and believe that, we are on our way to be more useful for God.

Demonology – 67

67. THE JEZEBEL SPIRIT (part 22)

Can the Jezebel spirit control the church even when the pastor isn’t a Jezebel-person?

There is every possibility of a church being under the control of the Jezebel spirit even when the pastor isn’t a Jezebel-person. The tool for the spirit might be the group of elders, or another leader, like a worship leader or a prayer leader.

How can the Jezebel spirit control through the group of elders?

Many churches have a group of elders that leads the church together with the pastor. When everything is functioning the way it should, and when the Holy Spirit is allowed to guide each one of them, a group of elders is a blessing. Unfortunately it is very easy for a group of elders to become a board and an employer, and for the pastor to act as an employee according to the decisions of the group. That way the Jezebel spirit can use one or more in the group of elders to control the church.

How can the Jezebel spirit control through a worship leader or a prayer leader?

A person who has received the calling and the anointing to lead the worship, the prayer or something else, is a blessing when he/she is serving within that calling. But if the same person steps outside his/her function and is allowed a free hand in the church the Jezebel spirit can use it and even be the reason for it.
One might think that the pastor could stop the wrong actions, but there could be some kind of dependence that makes that difficult. For instance it might be that the church has been looking for a worship leader for a long time, and when they finally get one, they are afraid of loosing him/her.

Spiritual Warfare in the Book of Psalms – 141

Scripture:

Ps. 60:12
Through God we shall do valiantly …

(Swedish version: “With God we can do mighty things …”)

Comment:

When Jesus walked here on earth very few people knew who He was. However the evil spirits, knew very well, and they knew what power He had. In the same way the evil spirits know the power we have since we are God’s children. Because of that knowledge the evil spirits will do all they can to make us believe we are powerless. The truth is, we can do mighty things!

This verse also reminds us about another truth. It’s with God we can do mighty things. We are not able to conquer the evil spiritual world on our own strength. But Jesus has already conquered the evil spirits, and we can act from that victory.

Today God is calling you to walk with Him and do mighty things!